'MasterChef' recap: Is Krissi among the strongest? Or the weakest?

We know that Krissi in the most abrasive and least likable person in "MasterChef" history. (Sorry, Max, Suzy and Christian.) But less clear is this: Is she a competitor?

"MasterChef" has portrayed Krissi as a front-runner, one of the toughest competitors in this race, and a cook who reminds judge Joe Bastianich of his legendary mama's cooking. This week, however, we were led — or, perhaps, misled — to believe that she's one of the weakest links.

This week took the eight finalists into the wild, where they had to cook up an elegant, chef-worthy dinner using only the most basic of tools and ingredients. Example: Using a pocket knife to debone a pigeon.

As the finalists were being broken into teams, Krissi took that moment to declare "I hate Bri... I don't like the idea of having a vegetarian captain my team."

So, of course, as gamesmanship would have it, Krissi ended up on Bri's team.

To her credit, Krissi gave it her all, including rolling out a rustic pasta using a wine bottle. The judges were floored by the ingenuity. It wasn't enough, though, to give the team the win. Those bragging rights went to Natasha's team and their pigeon.

Back in the MasterChef kitchen, the losing team prepared for the pressure test that would result in someone going home. Here was the twist: The winning team could pick one person to be safe.

Really? They had four players to choose from: Bri, Jordan, Krissi and Jessie — Jessie, being someone who had never been in a pressure test challenge before. And they chose to save Krissi?

The alleged team thinking was that Krissi would be an easy one to beat down the road. But Krissi has largely proven unstoppable. Wasn't the safer choice Bri? True, Bri has been wowing the judges of late. But she's a vegetarian and as a result doesn't have extensive experience cooking animal proteins.

That alone would seem to make her the weaker player.

Moreover, if the winning team saved Bri, they would have had a better shot at edging out Jessie, who has been a powerhouse competitor. And yet ... they chose to save Krissie.

Bastianich wrote on his blog for People that "Krissi's ignorant and counterproductive comments are getting old fast. Considering she already lags many of her competitors in her aptitude in the kitchen, she'd be wise to focus on what she is putting on the plate."

Do you agree with that assessment? Is the Beast — so named by Bri — really a weakling in disguise? Are the other competitors delirious and overconfident? Or is there some other behind-the-scenes string-pulling going on?